Results 7,581-7,600 of 21,096 for speaker:Charles Flanagan

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Accommodation (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 288 and 289 together. Rule 71 of the 2007 Prison Rules refers to Separate Accommodation and states: 'Unconvicted prisoners shall, in so far as is practicable and subject to the maintenance of good order and safe and secure custody, be accommodated in areas that are separate from those in which convicted prisoners are accommodated or to which convicted...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Health (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that persons in custody who currently require residential mental health treatment can be admitted to the Central Mental Hospital following assessment by the National Forensic Mental Health Service on the basis of assessed clinical need. This will also apply in regard to the admission of any person in custody to the services of the National Forensic...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Health (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it does not currently hold data on the number of recorded self harm incidents in the form requested. However, the Irish Prison Service has also advised that it has put a process in place whereby every incident of self harm is being examined by a multi-disciplinary team. Data on self harm is now being collated by way of a newly developed...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Drug Treatment Services (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I have been advised by the Irish Prison Service that any prisoner who enters the custody of the Irish Prison Services while presenting with addiction issues has access to addiction services, and is actively encouraged to engage with those services. The treatments available are based on the principles of best practice, and are similar to those available in the community setting. This...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Discipline (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 293 and 294 together. De-escalation techniques play a significant part in the control and restraint training for prison staff and are deployed on a daily basis throughout the prison estate. It is impossible to quantify the number of incidents the Irish Prison Service manage to de-escalate. Many incidents are resolved at different levels, where de-escalation...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Service Staff (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I can advise the Deputy that a total of 24 dedicated Integrated Sentence Management Coordinators are now operational in all prisons and open centres. The allocation of dedicated staff in each establishment greatly enhances the effectiveness of the sentence management system and facilitates the growing numbers of prisoners participating in the process. Newly committed prisoners with a...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Educational Services for Prisoners (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised that the Irish Prison Service provides a wide range of rehabilitative programmes to those in custody that include education, vocational training, healthcare, psychiatric, psychological, counselling, welfare and spiritual services. These programmes can offer purposeful activity to those in custody while serving their sentences and encouraging them to lead law abiding lives on...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Educational Services for Prisoners (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I can advise the Deputy that the restriction of a prisoner's regime can occur due to a number of factors including the protection of vulnerable prisoners. This is provided for under Rule 63 of the Prison Rules 2007. A prisoner may, either at his or her own request or when the Governor considers it necessary, in so far as is practicable and subject to the maintenance and good order and safe...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Educational Services for Prisoners (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that it endeavours to allow prisoners to spend as much time as possible each day out of their cell or room. Rule 27(3) of the Prison Rules 2007 states "In so far as is practicable, each convicted prisoner should be engaged in authorised structured activity for a period of not less than five hours on each of five days in each week". In general...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Data (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I wish to advise the Deputy that the number of family visits for 2016 was in excess of 130,000 visits. There are two types of panel for each prisoner, namely a standard panel which predominantly features family and friends and a professional panel which features legal personnel and any other person providing a service. All persons entering a prison must be on a prisoner's visitor panel...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Visiting Regulations (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 300 and 301 together. I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that its Strategic Plan 2016-2018 sets out the commitment of the Irish Prison Service to strengthen family supports to facilitate ongoing contact with prisoners while in custody and their reintegration post release, with appropriate supports and programmes. The Director General of the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Privacy (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am not aware of any criminal prosecutions of the type referred to by the Deputy. It should also be noted that prosecutions are a matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions, who is independent in the performance of her functions.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Privacy (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I wish to inform the Deputy that it is not possible to collect the information required within the time frame allotted. This information is currently being collated and will be forwarded to the Deputy once it becomes available.

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prison Accommodation Provision (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Prison Service that the first independent living skills unit was opened in Wheatfield Place of Detention in late 2016. The purpose of the unit is to assist prisoners serving long sentences to develop clear and realistic goals in the context of successful sentence progression. The unit replicates community living in as so far as is possible within a closed prison...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Prisoner Data (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I am advised by the Irish Prison Service (IPS) that there are no facilities for communal dining in the closed prisons, with the exception of the Grove Unit in Castlerea Prison (approximately 38 prisoners) and the Independent Living Skills Unit in Wheatfield Prison (approximately 12 prisoners). I am further informed by the Irish Prison Service that a number of enhanced regime prisoners...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Refugee Data (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy may be aware, in September 2015, the Government established the Irish Refugee Protection Programme and agreed to accept up to 4,000 persons overall under Resettlement and Relocation Programmes at the earliest time possible. As regards the Resettlement strand of the programme, we had taken in 519 of our original commitment of 520 under the EU Resettlement Agreement of July...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Human Trafficking (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: A distinction needs to be drawn between human trafficking and people smuggling, as there is no requirement that a person must have crossed a border for human trafficking to have taken place. People smuggling involves migrants being facilitated with entry into a state through illegal means and, unlike human trafficking, must take place across international borders. Human trafficking is the...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Expenditure (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I wish to inform the Deputy that all capital expenditure for 2017 has been allocated to specific projects. While efforts are made at the start of the year to profile expenditure as accurately as possible, this is particularly difficult with capital expenditure as it is not always possible to predict precisely when contracts will be awarded or invoices will be received. The Deputy will also...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Mobile Telephony Use (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 309 to 311, inclusive, together. The interception of post and telephone communications is governed by the provisions of the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993. The Act permits the Minister for Justice and Equality to authorise an interception but only for the purposes of criminal investigation into...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Garda Deployment (11 Jul 2017)

Charles Flanagan: As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the distribution of resources, including personnel, among the various Garda Divisions and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. Garda management keeps this distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities so as to ensure that the optimum use is made of...